Miscellaneous Reserve/Youth News

Apologies if this has already been posted but according to a tweet on the M.E.N. blog, Harry Spratt has rejected a new contract and joined Huddersfield.
He's been out on youth loans all season first at Barnsley and then at Huddersfield because he couldn't get games here this season after only starting 2 games last season so it seems the club agreed to let him leave before his contract ends in the summer.
 
He's been out on youth loans all season first at Barnsley and then at Huddersfield because he couldn't get games here this season after only starting 2 games last season so it seems the club agreed to let him leave before his contract ends in the summer.

I've never seen him play so I couldn't possibly comment. I just noticed it hadn't been mentioned on here, I believe it was from your twitter account anyway? So sorry for not acknowledging that in my original post, I didn't realise you were on here (If that is you on twitter)
 
The differrence being that foreign signed players are hand picked from thousands (even millions) of school boys across Europe and the world. It is therefore safe to assume that in being this selective with our foreign signed players scouts will have identified a level of potential that is significantly higher than the majority of local lads who have been attached to the club for a while.

Agreed.

They all still sign pro contracts at 17 though.

If they have reached that age the chances are they will get a pro deal...very few don't.
 
I've never seen him play so I couldn't possibly comment. I just noticed it hadn't been mentioned on here, I believe it was from your twitter account anyway? So sorry for not acknowledging that in my original post, I didn't realise you were on here (If that is you on twitter)
No problem I wasn't looking for an acknowledgement anyway I was just trying to give some context to him leaving
 
United are interested in Bringing in Mario Soriano from Athletico madrid. Considered a Wonderkid of sorts.

No idea about this, just got it from twitter. The journo has locked account so cant paste it here, followed by various journos. You got anything @mrmujac
@jb8521
 
United are interested in Bringing in Mario Soriano from Athletico madrid. Considered a Wonderkid of sorts.

No idea about this, just got it from twitter. The journo has locked account so cant paste it here, followed by various journos. You got anything @mrmujac
@jb8521

Read this earlier today:

Meanwhile, Mourinho is ready to bring Spanish babe Mario Soriano from Atletico Madrid to Old Trafford when he is 16.

Super Mario is rated as the best player at the club’s academy but they can do nothing about him leaving when the season ends in April.

Soriano would go straight into United’s youth ranks. He would become the best Spanish kid to head to United since Gerard Pique was plucked from Barcelona in 2004.

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/footbal...david-de-gea-if-spaniard-leaves-old-trafford/
 
Read this earlier today:

Meanwhile, Mourinho is ready to bring Spanish babe Mario Soriano from Atletico Madrid to Old Trafford when he is 16.

Super Mario is rated as the best player at the club’s academy but they can do nothing about him leaving when the season ends in April.

Soriano would go straight into United’s youth ranks. He would become the best Spanish kid to head to United since Gerard Pique was plucked from Barcelona in 2004.

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/footbal...david-de-gea-if-spaniard-leaves-old-trafford/

Didn't we sign one of Spain's best youngsters last summer?
 
United are interested in Bringing in Mario Soriano from Athletico madrid. Considered a Wonderkid of sorts.

No idea about this, just got it from twitter. The journo has locked account so cant paste it here, followed by various journos. You got anything @mrmujac
@jb8521
As far as I know all the top clubs are interested in him so I'd be surprised if we aren't interested especially after bringing Guzman in as a scout. I've only seen him play twice but he reminds me a bit of Brahim Diaz from City
 
We have been linked to Atletico Madrid youth player Soriano and he scored a wonder goal in the clip below. Thanks to @jb8521 for sharing on his TL on twitter hence me noticing.
 
United are interested in Bringing in Mario Soriano from Athletico madrid. Considered a Wonderkid of sorts.

No idea about this, just got it from twitter. The journo has locked account so cant paste it here, followed by various journos. You got anything @mrmujac
@jb8521
Alan Nixon is the journo who tweeted about our interest in Soriano. He used to cover the Yorkshire clubs in the past. Not sure if he still does.
 
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We have been linked to Atletico Madrid youth player Soriano and he scored a wonder goal in the clip below. Thanks to @jb8521 for sharing on his TL on twitter hence me noticing.


Great to see Dustin Henderson keeping busy between seasons.
 
Alan Nixon is the journo who tweeted about our interest in Soriano. He used to cover the Yorkshire clubs in the past. Not sure if he still does.

Is he reliable, the kid looks magic.
 
really happy to see us appear to be signing some top quality 15-17 year olds over the last year or so. After Fergie retired I we focused a lot on getting the manager right with the academy struggling. Now we're back on track. Look forward to seeing the class of 2022
 
Is he reliable, the kid looks magic.
He was reliable regarding the Yorkhire clubs he covered in the past especially Leeds. This news about Soriano seems abit left field for him. But he seems quite confident we'll sign him when he turns 16.
 
United have signed Middlesbrough U15 Alfie Hughes according to @jb8521

lol this is funny. I remember watching his clip 2 years ago and thought I wish we signed more of those English talents like him.

If we sign Soriano I think we will play either Greenwood or Elanga as number 9 next season.
 
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United being linked with 15 year old Barcelona striker Pablo Moreno
 
No way. He's very highly rated.

If he does come to us they should just hand us the U18s league title next season tbh.
He's supposed to be a monster for his age, at least that's according to Twitter.

EDIT: Certainly seems to know where the back of the net is;

 
Garner and Greenwood played for England in a tournament in Portugal. England lost 0-4 against Portugal, drew 1-1 with Germany and beat Holland 2-0. Can't find much detail but neither started in defeat and both started in the final game victory.
 
The u18/19s beat Rangers u20s 3-2 today with goals from Dylan Levitt and 2 for 15 year old Anthony Elanga who only came on after 61 minutes. The team was
Thompson, Tanner, Bernard, B.Williams, Kenyon, Galbraith, McGhee, Buffonge, Levitt, Mellor, Burkart
Subs: Carney, Dunne, Elanga
 
The u18/19s beat Rangers u20s 3-2 today with goals from Dylan Levitt and 2 for 15 year old Anthony Elanga who only came on after 61 minutes. The team was
Thompson, Tanner, Bernard, B.Williams, Kenyon, Galbraith, McGhee, Buffonge, Levitt, Mellor, Burkart
Subs: Carney, Dunne, Elanga
2 goals at U19 level is ridiculous for a 15 year old :eek:
 
2 goals at U19 level is ridiculous for a 15 year old :eek:

I disagree, reality being in this day and age it's quite common for schoolboys to be performing well in higher age groups, not to take anything away from Rangers but they did have Billy Gilmour starring in that team as a 15 year old last season before his big move.

Furthermore, I'm surprised that we've only started to integrate younger players into older categories (18s into 23's) more in comparison to the likes of City and Chelsea, two of arguably the best academies in the country, especially on the success of Rashford which was indeed a risk that wouldn't have been taken if it wasn't for injuries we were dealing with at the time. Personally, players of Chong and Gomes's caliber should be the first names on the sheet at U23 level on ability and just general player progression.

Elanga scoring two goals on as a sub in a U19s game should highlight the talent we actually do have in our academy, and give the coaching staff something to think about, we need less Frazier Campbells and more Marcus Rashfords, all in all we just need to nurture the talent correctly.
 
City and Chelsea don't have the best academies in my opinion, in the time that they've been in 3 Youth Cup finals, we've established 2 players (Rashford and Lingard) in the first team with McTominay doing well, TFM doing well on loan and Tuanzebe could also establish himself in the first team. Who has actually played consistent games for Chelsea and City that came through their academy? No one.

Second, everyone has a different development plan. Lingard and McTominay played an age group lower so the argument of promoting players early doesn't work. The higher the age group, the more tactical the match becomes which is not always good for a player. Out of the early promoted players in City's U23s, maybe Foden and Brahim will make it but I think more players from our U23s and U18s will establish themselves in the first team than from City's even though they have 16 and 17 year olds in there and winning.

If you look at the players coming through the academy, we've been the best of the top clubs in nurturing talent.
Establishing youth players in the first team is more down to the willingness of the first team manager to supply game time than anything else. Chelsea and City can certainly match us for quality in the youth teams at all ages.
 
There's barely a team in the world that has a worse record than City and Chelsea. PSG, Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc. all spend a ton of money and they all have more academy players in their first team than City and Chelsea. Both DoF's keep buying players and Guardiola who is supposed to be the greatest manager in the world can't establish a player into the first team. Both Chelsea and City's youth teams are way more tactical and physical than other teams. Their overall quality of players is better but we have just as many highly talented players as they do and our development is better too. It's also not just about quality, you can get players from around the world like City do but how you treat them is more important.
We've all got our opinions I guess. I've watched 90% of the U18s and U23s against City and the majority against Chelsea and the general ability on the ball at City and Chelsea is higher than with us and they are also more tactically aware working harder to press. We have had some excpetional local talents that City have lacked over the years but by most accounts (U15s and below) that has changed in recent times. I never recall being physically out muscled by either side, on the contrary, their pass and move games often leave our players confused and chasing shadows. From both watching the games and hearing various youth scouts talk I know we take an individualistic approach to players in the youth set up, focusing on individual skills development up until quite late on. I'm not sure if that's a sustainable model in the long term as top level football becomes more and more about team ball retention/winning and collectivism in the Pep/Klopp mode (and Mou from a defensive perspective).

I think City have the right model tbh and from listening to United parents it seems we are moving ever closer to their model of doing things. Just my 2 cents and I'm sure many will disagree.
 
City and Chelsea don't have the best academies in my opinion, in the time that they've been in 3 Youth Cup finals, we've established 2 players (Rashford and Lingard) in the first team with McTominay doing well, TFM doing well on loan and Tuanzebe could also establish himself in the first team. Who has actually played consistent games for Chelsea and City that came through their academy? No one.

Second, everyone has a different development plan. Lingard and McTominay played an age group lower so the argument of promoting players early doesn't work. The higher the age group, the more tactical the match becomes which is not always good for a player. Out of the early promoted players in City's U23s, maybe Foden and Brahim will make it but I think more players from our U23s and U18s will establish themselves in the first team than from City's even though they have 16 and 17 year olds in there and winning.

If you look at the players coming through the academy, we've been the best of the top clubs in nurturing talent.

Honestly, I don't see any academies in the country as strong as theirs throughout all age groups, and it's all good you naming players in Rashford and Lingard, but as I said Rashford wouldn't have got his chance if it wasn't for injury, also although Lingard being a player I like, he's only really now catching form at 25 years old. As for McTominay I have nothing against him, yeah he's doing OK but is he really regarded as a top talent, and if he wasn't 6'4 would he even get a whiff of first team football? Realistically he fits Mourinho's profile for a CM. Also, I was talking in terms of producing top talent, Just off head I can name at least 6 players that made full international debuts for their respective countries that graduated Chelsea's academy in the last year.

It's all good TFM doing well at Palace but with the injury record of our defence he should defo have been given a chance this season at United, he's proved he's good enough, same goes for Tuanzebe, there's no point in hyping up talent if they never really gonna get a looking, Axel spent the first half of the season on the fringes of the first team, not sure how much he featured with the 23's but if that was the case why didn't they facilitate a loan move for him in the summer.Surely that would have better suited his developing, honestly I dont know what je'd be learning from Smalling and Jones in training.

And I don't necessarily agree with your 2nd point there, because if I recall correctly Lingard was 14 in an England u17 squad at one point, and regularly went to tournaments with older age groups in the academy despite his small size, and if we're talking about a player being introduced to different tactics is that not a part of the whole learning curve. How are they gonna learn if they aren't introduced to it

Also I used Frazier Campbell as an example for a reason, he was very highly rated whilst in our academy, played every age group from England u16 -21s but never really reached the heights that he should have, whereas with Rashford he didn't make a breakthrough in the England camp until his breakthrough season with United. Was it down to better player management I can't tell you, but one thing is for sure his talent has been nurtured CORRECTLY, correctly being the key word in my first statement.
 
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How many are given chances in their first team has no bearing on how good their academies though. They have top class academies, their setup for transitioning into the first team is crap if not non-existent. In no way does it take away from how good their academies are though.
 
Rashford and Lingard have been in the academy since age 9, most people tend to disregard the earlier age groups when discussing academies, but in my opinion this is just as important, if not more important than the older age groups especially when it comes to identifying talent and potential. Because of this it's a little early to judge Cities Academy but I can understand why they are hoovering up and buying all the best young players because they are determined to succeed.

The worrying part for me is that all the local potential Rashford's are signing for City.
 
Rashford and Lingard have been in the academy since age 9, most people tend to disregard the earlier age groups when discussing academies, but in my opinion this is just as important, if not more important than the older age groups especially when it comes to identifying talent and potential. Because of this it's a little early to judge Cities Academy but I can understand why they are hoovering up and buying all the best young players because they are determined to succeed.

The worrying part for me is that all the local potential Rashford's are signing for City.
Not according to people who know of academy matters.
 
Not according to people who know of academy matters.

He is parent of one of our academy lads.

I'm fine with the amount of talents in the academy at the moment (especially after we become more aggressive on recruitment recently). In the next few years if we can get some out of TFM, Tuanzebe, Williams, Gomes, Chong, O'Connor, Laird, Garner, Traore, Greenwood, Mengi etc to the first team I would be happy. You can't have pathways for too many at the same time. I don't find the need to have 5-10 high level talents in an age group as a big matter, we can always sign someone like Chong. Training and pathway is far more important.

I'm optimistic about the group coming from the U16s next season for example with the likes of Greenwood, Mengi, Elanga, Vint, Haygarth, McCann, Denham etc and we likely to sign some top foreign talents as usual. In the age group below them we have Odubeko, Fish, Sotona, Iqbal, Fregapane, Hughes x2 etc. We can just get that rolling and perhaps promote players faster.
 
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http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=26630

Surprised at that, thought Michael Elechi was highly rated
He was brought in as a bit of a punt because he wasn't great technically but they thought he could develop well with better training but he's spent a lot of time out injured so hasn't had much of a chance to develop really. As far as I know the u16s offered scholarships are Greenwood, Mengi, Elanga, McCann, Vint, Helm, Hockenhull, Denham. Not sure what's happening with Haygarth because he's been injured for so long but presume he's been offered one as well.
 
He was brought in as a bit of a punt because he wasn't great technically but they thought he could develop well with better training but he's spent a lot of time out injured so hasn't had much of a chance to develop really. As far as I know the u16s offered scholarships are Greenwood, Mengi, Elanga, McCann, Vint, Helm, Hockenhull, Denham. Not sure what's happening with Haygarth because he's been injured for so long but presume he's been offered one as well.

Oh right, was he the lad brought in from Fulham ?

Only going off the squad that played against the MK Dons towards the end of last season, but do you know if Kyle Wych, Sam Sharrock-Peplow, Abdul Djalo and Remi Thompson are also being released, or are they a year younger ?